MacTech Blog

Feb 05

Gartner: cloud email gaining traction among global...

The cloud email market is still in the early stages of adoption with 13% of identified publicly listed companies globally using one of the two main cloud email vendors, according to Gartner, Inc. (www.gartner.com).

A recent study by the research group found that 8.5 percent of public companies in the sample use cloud email from Microsoft's Office 365 service, while 4.7% use Google Apps for Work. The remaining 87% of companies surveyed have on-premises, hybrid, hosted or private cloud email managed by smaller vendors.

These are the findings of a Gartner research study based on an automated examination of a large number of publicly available email routing records. The research group used the email server addresses in the domain records of nearly 40,000 public companies globally, to find out which ones point to cloud email services from Google or Microsoft.

The global connected device market is set to reach $6.2 million by 2020, growing at a compound annual growth rate of over 10%, according to new data from the Technavio (www.technavio.com) research group.

In 2015, the Americas was the largest market for connected devices, accounting for almost 46% of the overall market share. Technavio’s report states that rapid advances in technology and changing consumer preferences regarding the use of electronic devices are the main factors contributing to market growth in this region.
The US accounts for the majority of the connected devices market in the Americas.

This growth is attributed to the implementation of the Green Buildings Act. This act covers the public, private, and non-profit sectors and aims to increase the energy efficiency and sustainability of buildings. The use of connected devices has reduced annual energy consumption in many countries....

A new study from Juniper Research (www.juniperresearch.com) predicts that at least one in three home routers will be used as public Wi-Fi hotspots by 2017, and that the total installed base of such dual-use routers will reach 366 million globally by the end of 2020.

The new research notes that these so-called “homespot" routers essentially create two wireless networks separated by a firewall: one network is for private use while the other is offered as a public Wi-Fi hotspot by the broadband operators. Major broadband operators such as BT, UPC and Virgin Media in Europe and several of the biggest cable TV operators in the US such as Comcast and Cablevision have adopted the homespot model as a low-cost way of rapidly expanding their domestic Wi-Fi coverage.

The research pointed out that the rapid expansion of Wi-Fi in this way is also giving rise to a number of global Wi-Fi aggregators such as...

New data from Juniper Research (www.juniperresearch.com) shows that fitness wearables will remain the primary wearable device, with smartwatches being less commonly used for the next three years.

However, fitness wearables are expected to be used by approximately 110 million people worldwide at the end of 2019, while smartwatches will have more than 130 million users, according to the research group. Juniper Research observed that the lines between the categories are starting to blur, with fitness wearables offering a range of call-handling and notification functions that can also be found in smartwatches. The existence of app-enabled fitness trackers, such as the Samsung Gear Fit and Microsoft Band, lessens the distinction even further.

A recent Juniper Research survey also found that fitness devices are the most popular wearables because they are both cheaper and have a more obvious use...

Why is it that supposedly hard-headed evidence-based fact-found business and IT decision makers seem so driven instead by emotional and personal considerations?

Take the stock market, for instance. The one predictable thing about it is that it always overreacts, whether on the up or down side. Never has this been more apparent than lately, where every titbit of "news" sends it on a wild gyration, up several hundred points one day, down likewise the next, with no time or effort spared for considered analysis of said reports (calling them "information" is too generous, given the lack of intentional processing).

Speculative psychology is the driver, not investment analytics, and this is true whether short or longer term swings are the grist in the mill for speculative profits. Day traders try to make money in the moment, predators buy enough stock to force their views on the board, usually with a view to selling off profitable...

According to new data from International Data Corporation (IDC), worldwide spending on public cloud services will grow at a 19.4% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) -- almost six times the rate of overall IT spending growth – from nearly $70 billion in 2015 to more than $141 billion in 2019.

The new spending guide expands on IDC's (www.idc.com) previous public cloud services forecasts by offering greater detail on industry and geographic spending levels. Software as a Service (SaaS) will remain the dominant cloud computing type, capturing more than two thirds of all public cloud spending through most of the forecast period. Worldwide spending on Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS) will grow at a faster rate than SaaS with five-year CAGRs of 27.0% and 30.6%, respectively.

"Over the past several years, the software industry has been shifting to a cloud-first (SaaS) development and...

Worldwide combined shipments of devices (PCs, tablets, ultramobiles and mobile phones) are expected to reach 2.4 billion units in 2016 , a 1.9 percent increase from 2015, according to Gartner, Inc. (www.gartner.com). End-user spending in constant U.S. dollars is expected to decline 0.5 percent for the first time.

The device market in 2016 will continue to be impacted by country-level economic conditions. “It’s clear that vendors can no longer market their products with the mind of only targeting the mature and emerging markets," said Ranjit Atwal, research director at Gartner. "Driven by economic variations the market is splitting into four categories: economically challenged mature markets, economically stable mature markets and the same for emerging markets. Russia and Brazil will fall into the category of economically challenged emerging markets while India will be stable, and Japan will belong to the...

The Smart Home ecosystem comprises both hardware devices and software apps and together they are supposed to make an efficient system for consumers.

A new report from Argus Insights shows that consumers are overall more frustrated with the applications that dictate, schedule and manage each device than with the actual devices themselves. Past Argus Insights reports looked at the hardware component and the challenges and irritations customers were experiencing with installation and connectivity, but this new analysis introduces a new data set to uncover the fact that consumers are experiencing even more issues with the apps that run these devices.

According to data compiled from nearly 50,000 Smart Home device and app reviews from August 2015 to the present, the incumbent home security companies like ADT, Comcast and AT&T are failing to delight consumers with their apps while the more innovative and newer Smart Home-focused companies like Vivint and Honeywell...

According to a new report by Research and Markets (www.researchandmarkets.com), shipments of connected wearables reached 72.5 million in 2015, up from 25.3 million devices in the previous year. Growing at a compound annual growth rate of 25.8%, total shipments of smartwatches, smart glasses, fitness & activity trackers, people monitoring and safety devices and medical devices as well as other wearable devices are forecasted to reach 228.3 million units in 2020.

Bluetooth will remain the primary connectivity option in the coming years. A total of 17.8 million of the wearables sold in 2020 are forecasted to incorporate embedded cellular connectivity, mainly in the smartwatch and people monitoring and safety categories. Apple entered the connected wearables market in the second quarter (Q2) of 2015 and quickly became the leading smartwatch vendor.

Gartner Inc. (www.gartner.com) forecasts that worldwide IT spending will total $3.54 trillion dollars in 2016, just a 0.6% increase over 2015 spending of $3.52 trillion dollars.

2015 saw the largest U.S. dollar drop in IT spending since the research group began tracking IT spending. $216 billion dollars less was spent on IT in 2015 than in 2014 and 2014 spending levels won’t be surpassed until 2019.

"The rising U.S. dollar is the villain behind 2015 results," said John-David Lovelock, research vice president at Gartner. "U.S. multinationals' revenue faced currency headwinds in 2015. However, in 2016 those headwinds go away and they can expect an additional 5 percent growth.”

Gartner forecasts that the devices market (PCs, ultramobiles, mobile phones, tablets and printers) will decline 1.9% in 2016. The combination of economic conditions preventing countries such as Russia, Japan and Brazil from...

According to the IDC research group (www.idc.com), vendor revenue from sales of infrastructure products (server, storage, and Ethernet switch) for cloud IT, including public and private cloud, grew by 23.0% year over year to $7.6 billion in the third quarter of 2015 (3Q15).

The overall share of cloud IT infrastructure sales climbed to 33.8% in 3Q15, up from 28.7% a year ago. Revenue from infrastructure sales to private cloud grew by 18.8% to $2.9 billion, and to public cloud by 25.9% to $4.6 billion. In comparison, revenue in the traditional (non-cloud) IT infrastructure segment decreased by -3.2% year over year in the third quarter, with declines in all three technology segments (server, storage and Ethernet switch).

All three technology markets showed strong year-over-year growth in both private and public cloud segments, with server experiencing the highest growth in private cloud at 24.3% and Ethernet switch...

At CES 2016, IEEE (http://www.ieee.org) , the world's largest professional organization dedicated to advancing technology for humanity, conducted a survey that asked booth visitors to answer a range of questions regarding the future of AR/VR [augmented reality/virtual reality] technology. 1,537 participants took the survey.

According to the findings, the use of VR headsets might not have the staying power that is predicted with this new, emerging technology. When questioned about the year AR/VR technology will advance to the point where immersive headsets will no longer be required, more than half (52%) of respondents believed this will occur in well under two decades, by 2030. On top of the 52%, another 21% of respondents predicted this to be a reality by 2035, 15% by 2040 and 5% by 2045.

When asked which industry would most benefit from the widespread adoption of AR/VR technology, 36% of participants...

Parks Associates (www.parksassociates.com) has released new research reporting that 70% of U.S. security dealers currently install or plan to install some type of interactive smart home device or system within their residential offerings in the next 12 months. Nearly three-quarters of security dealers offer interactivity with their devices, which can be controlled through smartphones, tablets, and computers.

"Smart home features are helping security dealers increase monthly revenues and also attract new customers," said Barbara Kraus, director of Research, Parks Associates. "Benefits from smart home features increase interest among homeowners who were not interested in monitored security systems. The sales model for security dealers, which involves one-on-one interaction with the customer, is particularly effective in communicating the benefits of smart home solutions.

ABI Research (www.abiresearch.com) predicts 156 million tablets will ship in 2020, marking a 3% CAGR [compound annual return rate] for the device category between 2015 and 2020.

This is despite the fact that tablet forecasts were revised downward in response to continued pressure on shipments and revenues by Apple, Samsung and other leading vendors. According to the latest research, branded tablet revenues reached approximately $55 billion in 2015, down from $68 billion in 2014. While revenues are expected to remain flat in 2016, ABI Research projects last year's retail ASPs [average selling prices] to drop below $400 for the first time.

"We expect the global installed base to decline primarily due to older devices in most developed market economies aging out faster after purchase than replacement devices being acquired and new products being shipped into emerging market economies," says Jeff Orr,...

New data from Parks Associates (www.parksassociates.com) shows that more than 70% of U.S. smartphone users watch at least one short streaming video clip every day.

Parks Associates' survey shows consumers are embracing many new use cases as their smartphones become more intelligent and multifunctional. Voice calls and texting are still the dominant activities, but 80% of smartphone owners use social networking apps at least once a day and 35% spend an hour or more on this activity.

"Consumer appetite for mobile data is very strong, but currently most subscribers use less than half of their allotted data, while those with high data plans use even less," said Harry Wang, director, Health & Mobile Product Research, Parks Associates. "For mobile operators, pushing consumers to sign up for a bigger data plan will have its limits. More and more consumers will start to compare payment to data...

According to PwC's Global State of Information Security (GSISS) Survey 2016 (www.pwc.com/ca/gsiss), Canadian companies are taking steps towards establishing holistic, integrated safeguards against cyberattacks. While investment in safeguards against cybersecurity threats have increased by 82% year over year, it still accounts for an average of only 5% of overall IT (Information Technology) spending.

Because of the impact cybersecurity attacks can have on the overall health of a company and a brand, boards are playing an increasingly significant role in informing the development of cybersecurity strategies. In fact, this year's report found that 50% of Canadian companies surveyed indicated that their board participates in defining their organization's security budgets, compared to only 25% in 2014.

As part of an expanding digital service offering PwC Canada is launching, Game of Threats, a digital...

New data from Parks Associates (www.parksassociates.com) reveals that 33% of U.K. broadband households subscribed to an OTT [over-the-top] video service as of the third quarter of 2015. The same study shows that only 15% of U.K. households with pay TV subscribe to premium movie channels.

"Overall OTT video usage in the U.K. favors broadcasters," said Brett Sappington, Director, Research, Parks Associates. "The most popular OTT video sources in the U.K. include BBC's iPlayer, ITV Player, 4oD (now All4), and Demand5 - all catch-up or on-demand offerings from broadcasters. New OTT video market entrants, especially those with paid services, will have to provide unique value in order to make substantial gains. However, the demand for interesting content is strong enough that there are market opportunities for new OTT video players. Nearly 20% of U.K. broadband households have recently used a Netflix...

New research from Accenture (www.accenture.com) has found that only 2 percent of patients in the largest U.S. hospitals are using hospital-provided mobile health apps. Accenture estimates that failure to align mobile apps to the services consumers’ demand could cost each of these hospitals, on average, more than $100 million in lost annual revenue.

The research, which assessed mobile app use among the 100 largest U.S. hospitals, found that two-thirds (66 percent) of the 100 largest U.S. hospitals have mobile apps for consumers and roughly two-fifths (38 percent) of that subset have developed proprietary apps for their patients. However, only 11 percent of health systems offer patients proprietary apps that operate with at least one of the three functions that consumers demand most: access to medical records; the ability to book, change and cancel appointments; and the ability to request prescription refills...

New data from Parks Associates (www.parksassociates.com) shows that 25 percent of OTT (over-the-top) OTT video subscribers in U.S. broadband households plan to upgrade their broadband service in the next 12 months.

Only seven percent of consumers who watch video exclusively on television plan to upgrade their pay-TV service in the next 12 months. This compares to 22 percent of consumers with above-average viewing on all platforms, including computers and mobile devices.

"Evolving usage habits around multiscreen viewing are shaping all aspects of the industry, including service delivery, content production, and the devices consumers use to access content," said Brett Sappington, director of Research, Parks Associates. "Today, one-third of broadband households that own three or more connected devices state that they are likely to upgrade their broadband service in the next 12 months. These...

DMI (Digital Management Inc.), an end-to-end mobility company, has released its annual Top Ten Mobility Trends for 2016 (http://tinyurl.com/zj9ztqe), citing the need for an improved mobile customer experience, top-down concerns for cybersecurity, key innovations through partnerships and a stronger focus on the redesign and implementation of omni-channel and mobile payment technologies. among the projected trends:

° Stronger focus on the customer experience: Analyst firms Forrester and Gartner highlighted the customer experience (CX) as a top priority for 2016. Based on DMI's experience, the average organization has less than one in 100 employees with the CX skills needed to amplify the mobile experience, whether in-store or on the Internet. In 2016, customers will demand one consistent cross-channel experience. Look for organizations to embed the mobile customer experience throughout every part of...

With the new year here, there will be some extraordinary shifts in how people watch their favorite TV programs, how they surf the Internet and how our daily gadgets will become more interconnected. While our lives are becoming easier, the new technology shift requires an increasing sensitivity towards online security.

NordVPN (www.nordvpn.com), a VPN service provider, predicts some of the major shifts and trends in digital and online security world in 2016:

° Streaming over downloading. There will be more streaming options in 2016 and better access to content compared to downloading options that are becoming less popular. Streaming is becoming border-free as well, as there are new ways to overcome geographical restrictions.

SmartPlay, for example, is NordVPN’s new secure technology that helps overcome geo-based restrictions used by certain streaming websites, such as Netflix, Pandora,...

According to IDC (www.idc.com), 3D printer shipments in the China market passed 34,000 units in 2014, and is expected to reach 77,000 units in 2015, exhibiting a growth rate over 120%.

This growth rate is largely driven by sales of desktop 3D printers priced under US$5,000. As the Chinese Government continue to promote 3D printer awareness and usage within schools and educational institutions, the desktop 3D printer market is expected to maintain an annual growth trend in the coming years, according to the research group.

“China's local 3D printer market will surpass the US market in 2016 with an annual growth rate over 100%. However, the US is expected to retain its position as the market leader in terms of market revenue, due to the greater proportion of high-end printers adopted by the manufacturing sector,” said Wendy Mok, Research Manager for IDPS at IDC China. “To capitalize on this growth, 3D printer vendors...

Driven by continued innovation in vehicle connectivity and safety technologies, global revenue from automotive display systems will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 11 percent to $18.6 billion by the end of 2021. This will add nearly $9 billion in annual revenue compared to 2015, according to IHS (www.ihs.com).

Data from the the research group represents production of instrument cluster systems, head-up display systems and center stack display systems as full automotive modules, not just display panels. Center stack display systems are expected to account for half of the overall revenue growth, while head-up display (HUD) systems will boast the strongest revenue CAGR at nearly 21 percent from 2015.

“The automotive displays supply chain will see some amazing growth and innovation through the end of the decade, as more vehicles debut new displays or standardize larger ones in the instrument...

Much ado about very little is how the Spy categorizes the newest iteration of the Apple TV. When Steve Jobs announced a few years ago that he'd figured television out, he ignited great expectations.

But time, negotiations, and reality have laboured mightily to bring forth...not a mouse, but no tiger either. Now, it may be that the new box and its dedicated store have a future place in the hands of gamers, but that appeal, loyal though it may hypothetically be, is of extremely limited value, and the Spy, who's never begun to comprehend the appeal of action games, stands firmly outside the circle of that limitation.

The issue, as it was with all the delays, is content. To be more pointed, there doesn't appear to be much "there" there. Yes, access to a few other subscription services, all similarly thin gruel, and a few modern TV shows, but where is the library of old TV shows and movies, particularly the...

The shift in consumer online video viewing habits is changing rapidly, according the latest survey of more than 1,200 consumers from Limelight Networks, Inc. (www.limelight.com), which specializes in digital content delivery.

According to the second semi-annual “The State of Online Video” report, more than 83 percent of consumers watch on-demand video, an increase of four percent since April 2015. The percentage of consumers watching four or more hours of on-demand video a week increased to more than 36 percent as compared to 30 percent in April 2015. Among Millennials, the greatest jump is in those that watch 10 or more hours of video per week (nearly 20 percent vs. 15 percent in April 2015), perhaps a tell-tale sign they are binge-watching more often than their counterparts in different demographics.

How are consumers watching on-demand video? A growing number are doing so on their TV, either through...

In the first half of 2015, US and UK smartphone users were most likely to be interested in a device with a display size of 5.3-inch overall, according to a new report from the Mobile Device UX (MDX) group at Strategy Analytics (www.strategyanalytics.com).

The report also showed that respondents surveyed in the US have a greater interest in the larger sized prototypes than those surveyed in the UK, while Android owners have a greater interest in phablet sized prototypes compared to Apple owners. Current smartphone owners are also more likely to prefer a thicker prototype with a longer battery life over a thinner phone.

Similar to the second half of 2014, the prototype with a 5.3-inch display was most preferred by consumers overall in the first half of 2015. This was followed by the 5.0-inch and 5.5-inch prototypes. Even though the majority of smartphone owners surveyed preferred a...

Of the 74 percent of online American adults who are likely to purchase health and fitness technology in the next 12 months, one in three (35 percent) plan to buy a smartwatch, according to the latest research from the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), formerly the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA).

One half of the market for medical apps is now conducted in the United States, according to Kalorama Information (www.kaloramainformation.com). However, that’s expected to change rapidly, as medical systems in other parts of the world come to rely on mobile devices.

The healthcare market research firm said that United States' share will shift to just one-fifth of the market for mhealth by 2020. This is the result of soon with rapid adoption in the rest of the world, and was a key finding in Kalorama's report, mHealth Markets Worldwide, a comprehensive study of the mobile health industry.

"Brazil, China and other nations have already mobilized in many other industries and as their healthcare systems developed, mhealth solutions will prosper," said Bruce Carlson, Publisher of Kalorama Information.

The report said that China has become a focus market for device manufacturers...

New research from Parks Associates (www.parksassociates.com) finds nine percent of U.S. broadband households own a wearable camera (including cameras and camcorders) and 10% intend to purchase one by midyear 2016.

"Nearly one-fourth of the wearable cameras and camcorders bought in the last year were given as gifts," said Barbara Kraus, director of Research, Parks Associates. "This product will continue to be a hot high-tech gift through the holidays and into 2016. Consumers are using wearable cameras to record daily life (36 percent of owners) just as much as they use them during notable events like vacations, holidays, and birthday parties (36 percent of owners), so as adoption increases, privacy concerns will arise, as anyone in the camera's line of sight might assume they are being recorded. Google Glass created similar concerns."

New Parks Associates (www.parksassociates.com) research shows 15 percent of U.S. broadband households plan to buy wireless speakers over the next 12 months, while 18% plan to buy earbuds and 16% plan to buy headphones.

"The smartphone has evolved into the primary interface for the connected home, and it is helping to create new app use cases for services such as Pandora and Spotify, which in turn drive interest in new connected audio devices," said Brad Russell, Research Analyst, Parks Associates. "Nearly 50 percent of U.S. broadband households have bought headphones as a separate purchase, and the growth of premium brands, including Beats, Bose, Sony, and Sennheiser, shows consumers are interested in high-quality audio devices.”

Parks Associates' industry report “Digital Audio for the Connected Consumer” notes that 22 percent of U.S. broadband households currently own wireless speakers,...

During the next five years, consumers will add more devices to their personal portfolio rather than consolidating it, according to Gartner, Inc. (www.gartner.com). By 2018, a consumer in a mature market will use and own more than three personal devices, says the research group.

Gartner estimates that in 2016, the installed base of devices will total 7.8 billion units (including wearables, phones, tablets and PCs) and is on pace to reach 8.3 billion units in 2018.

"The combination of the high level of adoption of technology, the availability of faster networks, and decision making becoming increasingly dependent on real-time information, will undoubtedly lead to more devices per user," said Anshul Gupta, research director at Gartner.

Gartner expects mature market users to use three to four personal devices from a mix of "main" and "niche" devices. Main devices will include smartphones, tablets,...

Apple has announced that Jeff Williams has been named chief operating officer and Johny Srouji is joining Apple’s executive team as senior vice president for Hardware Technologies.

Phil Schiller, senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing, will expand his role to include leadership of the App Store across all Apple platforms. Apple also announced that Tor Myhren will join Apple in the first calendar quarter of 2016 as vice president of Marketing Communications, reporting to CEO Tim Cook.

“We are fortunate to have incredible depth and breadth of talent across Apple’s executive team. As we come to the end of the year, we’re recognizing the contributions already being made by two key executives,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “Jeff is hands-down the best operations executive I’ve ever worked with, and Johny’s team delivers world-class silicon designs which enable new innovations in our products year after year.”

Gartner, Inc. estimates that 1.6 billion connected things will be used by smart cities in 2016, an increase of 39 percent from 2015.

"Smart commercial buildings will be the highest user of Internet of Things (IoT) until 2017, after which smart homes will take the lead with just over one billion connected things in 2018," said Bettina Tratz-Ryan, research vice president at the research group.
Commercial real estate benefits greatly from IoT implementation, according to Gartner. IoT creates a unified view of facilities management as well as advanced service operations through the collection of data and insights from a multitude of sensors. Especially in large sites, such as industrial zones, office parks, shopping malls, airports or seaports, IoT can help reduce the cost of energy, spatial management and building maintenance by up to 30 percent said Tratz-Ryan.

The business applications that are fueling the growth of IoT in commercial buildings are handled...

The 802.11ac Wave 2 Wi-Fi standard has started to gain rapid traction, and will become the highest shipping Wi-Fi standard yet, according to Strategy Analytics (www.strategyanalytics.com).

“802.11ac Wave 2 with MU-MIMO provides significant benefits to users and a better Wi-Fi user experience compared to 802.11n and 802.11ac Wave 1, but works best when both ends of the Wi-Fi connection have Wave 2 capable radio chips,” says Christopher Taylor, director of RFWC, Strategy Analytics. “With the efforts of Qualcomm and other chip suppliers, more than 60 mobile device models with 802.11ac Wave 2 have now reached the market, and Wi-Fi equipment vendors have embraced Wave 2 for residential and enterprise Wi-Fi infrastructure applications.”

David Watkins, director of the Strategy Analytics Connected Home Devices service, adds: "Hundreds of millions of Wave 2-enabled mobile devices will ship in 2016...

Consumers continue to look to mobile health and fitness applications to help achieve and maintain a healthier lifestyle. By tracking their progress, both in what they eat and activities they undertake throughout the day, consumers are using these types of apps to make smarter, more health-conscious decisions, in addition to improving various aspects of their fitness.

However, a new report from the Media and Services UX (MSX) group at Strategy Analytics (www.strategyanalytics.com) surveying avid health and fitness consumers using health and/or fitness mobile applications, has found that implementing multiple improvements will lead to more useful, usable, and compelling solutions.

Surveying consumers in the US and UK who used at least one health and/or fitness mobile application multiple times per week, Strategy Analytics found that many of these apps catered only to one side: either...

A new study from Juniper Research (www.juniperresearch.com) forecasts almost 20 million fully autonomous or self-driving vehicles on the road by 2025, with consumer adoption set to take off in 2021. Driven by increased safety and convenience for drivers, development has progressed to live trials with North America and West Europe set to become the first to witness driverless cars in use on the road.

The research found that in the interim, consumer usage of ADAS (Advanced Driving Assistance System) technologies such as adaptive cruise control and automated braking will become key. Juniper Research says that these systems will serve to prepare drivers for the psychological change from the role of driving a car to operating a driverless car.

The research finds that although the market has progressed to live trials, a discernible monetization strategy hasn’t become evident. Stakeholders are...

According to new data from Parks Associates (www.parksassociates.com), there’s increased adoption of of digital health/wellness devices among U.S. broadband households — an increase from 26 percent in 2014 to 3 percent now. The research group reports that most of these devices are fitness-related, with connected fitness trackers reaching 10 percent penetration in 2015, while smart watches reached 4 percent.

"Digital fitness tracker is the fastest growing category in the connected health device market, with Fitbit the clear leader with more than 50% market share, and its early 2015 acquisition of FitStar will help the company expand its wellness services," said Harry Wang, director, Mobile and Health Products Research, Parks Associates. "Attrition of fitness tracker usage, a closely watched metric, is not as bad as the industry once perceived, at least not among existing users.”

New research from Parks Associates (www.parksassociates.com) shows that nine percent of U.S. broadband households switched broadband providers in the past 12 months, with 35 percent of them doing so to get a faster broadband speed. Only 18 percent of switchers changed because a different provider offered a lower price at a comparable speed.

"For many, broadband is a necessity for the home. No one wants slow or spotty service, and consumers are quick to switch if they encounter problems," said Brett Sappington, Director of Research, Parks Associates. "Operators are promoting broadband speeds of 100 Mbps or more. While 43% of subscribers do not know their current broadband speed, they do know about the experience that they have online, particularly as it relates to digital media. Respondents who own multiple connected entertainment devices are more likely than others to plan to upgrade their broadband...

New data from Juniper Research (www.juniperresearch.com) has found that home automation hardware, sold as standalone units rather than as part of a subscription package, will exceed 300 million in 2020. This represents growth of over 1000 percent from an estimated installed base of 28 million units in 2015.

While the smart home industry has been years in the making, more open approaches, partnerships and falling hardware costs are driving adoption, according to the research group. What’s more, media and retail efforts are aiding in raising consumer awareness.

The new research from Juniper found that early “piecemeal” hardware efforts simply created isolated smart automation units. Open platform efforts, such as those championed by SmartThings and Wink have nevertheless driven more cohesive ecosystems. Meanwhile Deutsche Telekom’s open platform, Qivicon, demonstrates a shift in attitude even...

Technology and cybersecurity experts are scrambling to find solutions to huge security threats in the era of IoT (the “Internet of Everything). NordVPN (NordVPN.com) is a VPN service provider that believes in educating the public about basic security steps anyone can take and recommends the following to maximize your online privacy.

° Get a VPN and learn how to use it ­ VPNs will be increasingly popular as security issues grow to monumental proportions. Encrypting your device¹s online data is a great starting point for the security conscious. VPN encryption can help secure transfer of sensitive data. NordVPN uses encryption with a 2048 bit strength SSL key and is available on 6 devices on one account....

It is difficult to understand what is happening in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). New developments seem to happen weekly, and companies use different words to describe their products.

The terms artificial intelligence, cognitive intelligence, autonomous machines, and machine learning are all thrown around. New research from ReportLinker (www.reportlinker.com), a market research solution, says AI) is a vision, a goal, and a set of technologies. Its breadth and complexity make it a difficult subject to understand and explain.

Adding to the confusion is the number and variety of terms used. Machine learning (ML), deep learning, neural networks, and predictive analytics describe different AI approaches. Other marketing terms such as cognitive computing or autonomous machines further muddy the water.

The term artificial intelligence is often used to refer to artificial general...

Car makers will need to act more like technology, software and consumer electronics companies with more highly customized products, quicker introduction of new, "sexy" models, and nearly flawless quality to address competition from new entrants in the business, according to a new KPMG study (www.kpmg.com).

These new entrants, from technology giants to startups, operate at faster clockspeeds and are accelerating the pace of innovation in the auto industry. Automakers must now reconcile the industry's rigorous standards of Six Sigma Quality and a traditional 5-7 year powertrain and vehicle platform clockspeed with a new "sexy, dynamic experience" that includes things like the upgrading of sensors, actuators, and displays in 18 to 36 months and quarterly over-the-air upgrades of software. Thus, KPMG says the auto industry faces the clockspeed dilemma: the need to serve multiple paces at once.

Best Buy and Target both reported slow third-quarter sales, according to MarketResearch.com. Both stores reported a decline in consumer electronics sales.

Target saw a double-digit decline in electronics sales, which is a category they offered significant promotions for earlier in the year. Best Buy saw falling sales of tablets, mobile phones, and digital imaging products.

According to a report by First Research Inc., the U.S. industry for consumer electronics is very concentrated, with 50 of the largest companies accounting for 70 percent of sales. The market itself gains annual revenue of about $100 billion.

With the holidays here, it's unclear if stores will hit their revenue goals. Because shopper interest in consumer electronics is low, there is no guarantee that Best Buy will be able to rebound from their decline in profits.

With Un-carrier X offering double the LTE data plus its new zero-rated video streaming service Binge On for no extra fees, T-Mobile US is set to maintain its Un-carrier momentum and gain market share in the fourth quarter (Q4) as it puts pressure on the pricing approaches of its rivals, according to Strategy Analytics (www.strategyanalytics.com).

Through its Un-carrier initiative, including services like Music Freedom and now Binge On, T-Mobile is challenging its competitors by positioning itself as the most customer-friendly wireless operator in the US market, says the research group. Un-carrier momentum continues with the addition of the Binge On mobile video streaming service supported by zero-rated data over LTE and video optimization technology, strengthening T-Mobile's value proposition while challenging AT&T and Verizon Wireless to follow suit.

At long last, the Spy's series The Throne is starting to see the light of day. The first book, Culmanic Parts was published in June. Now, the second, Rea's Blood or Navy Girl is available from publisher Writers Exchange. See the URLs below. The third book Tara's Mother is in publishers's editing as we write, and the fourth The Paladin is undergoing second proofing before being made available to the Spy's volunteer reader/correctors.

These books are background to the Alternate History series The Interregnum, which currently has six volumes published. The Throne was intended to be the final book in that series, but has grown into a four-book series of its own. The first three books of The Throne can be read as a standalone trilogy, and The Paladin will offer conclusions to both series.

The original intent was to offer a brief history of alternate earth Hibernia--how Ireland came to be the world's superpower, and something of...

Clearswift (www.clearswift.com), a global cyber security innovator and data loss prevention specialist, has released their annual Clearswift Insider Threat Index (CITI) exploring why firms have been slow to address internal security threats and including data from extensive research into the security priorities and awareness of over 500 IT decision makers and 4,000 employees across the UK, US, Germany and Australia.

"The detachment between the front line security professionals and Board members within an organization is particularly worrying in the wake of recent high profile cyber breaches across the globe already this year,” says Heath Davies, CEO at Clearswift. “Cyber-attacks are a major problem and it’s time for Boards to take a proactive stance on this. Companies need a clear, coherent, adaptive strategy which encompasses people, processes and technology, and this mandate needs to come from the top.”...

Wanderful Media (www.wanderful.com), the company behind the Find&Save cash back shopping app, today released its 2015 Annual Holiday Shopping Survey. The findings feature insights on the role mobile plays in holiday shopping, and specifically for millennial shoppers.

Of the millennial holiday shoppers, 92 percent said they use their mobile phones while shopping, compared to 73 percent of all shoppers who were surveyed. All shoppers, including millennials, primarily use mobile to find deals, coupons and/or promo codes for stores nearby; compare prices from other stores or online; and find store locations.

The survey also found mobile shopping apps are popular, since 78 percent of millennials said they are willing to use shopping apps this holiday season – compared to 67 percent of all shoppers surveyed.

More than 80 percent of millennial holiday shoppers said they are interested in mobile app...

Worldwide personal and entry-level storage (PELS) shipments declined -13.4 percent year over year to 16.7 million units in the third quarter of 2015 (3Q15), but were up 10.3 percent compared to the previous quarter, according to the International Data Corporation. Shipment values declined along with unit shipments, down -19.8 percent from a year ago to $1.3 billion, notes the research group.

“The personal and entry-level storage market was stagnant in 2014 and started to show signs of decline in 2015," says Jingwen Li, senior research analyst, Storage Systems, IDC (www.idc.com). "The adoption of cloud storage has been gaining traction in the consumer space with its easy data access and mobile device integration. One of the negative impacts of cloud storage deployment leads to shrinking demand within the PELS market.”

Personal storage remained the dominant component of the PELS market and accounted for over 98% of...

HarborTouch (www.harbortouch.com), a point of sale (POS) system and merchant services provider, has published the results of a national survey examining consumer sentiment and usage trends among early adopters of EMV or “chip” enabled credit cards.

Just one month after the Oct. 1 EMV transition deadline, the survey of more than 5,000 U.S. adults found that one in five consumers consider transaction time as their top concern when using an EMV-enabled credit or debit card. These concerns could spell trouble for brick-and-mortar retailers this holiday season. This is especially true for big-box stores like Target, Best Buy and Walmart, which depend on in-store holiday transactions and have made EMV adoption the centerpiece of their store payment security strategies.

“On average, it takes between seven to 10 seconds to pay using a chip card versus two to three seconds to pay using a traditional swipe...

Archiware, manufacturer of the data management software suite Archiware P5, is launching its P5 Archive app and version 5.3 of the Archiware P5 Software Suite, including Snapshot support and LTO-7 capability.

The P5 Archive app is designed to simplify the Archiving process by allowing users to archive and restore files directly from Finder via the right-click context menu, without the need to open P5 Archive itself. Final Cut Pro X projects are archived and restored including all media used in the project.

Archived files and folders are represented by a link file which displays metadata and previews on double-click. Metadata can be added during archiving. All jobs are listed in a monitoring window for verification. The P5 Archive App will be available for Mac OS X initially, with more platforms to follow in the future.

Until May 31st, 2016, an introductory offer with a 50 percent discount is available for a package including the P5 Archive App and 5 Workstation...

Software Updates via MacUpdate

Alfred 3.4.1 - Quick launcher for apps a...

Alfred is an award-winning productivity application for OS X. Alfred saves you time when you search for files online or on your Mac. Be more productive with hotkeys, keywords, and file actions at... Read more

Maintenance 2.2.7 - System maintenance u...

Maintenance is a system maintenance and cleaning utility. It allows you to run miscellaneous tasks of system maintenance:
Check the status of the hard disk
Repair permissions
Run periodic scripts... Read more

NeoOffice 2017 - Mac-tailored, OpenOffic...

NeoOffice is a complete office suite for OS X. With NeoOffice, users can view, edit, and save OpenOffice documents, PDF files, and most Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents.
NeoOffice 3.x... Read more

SyncTwoFolders 2.2.4 - Syncs two user-sp...

SyncTwoFolders simply synchronizes two folders. It supports synchronization across mounted network drives and it is a possibility to run a simulation showing in a log what will be done.
Please visit... Read more

Hopper Disassembler 4.2.13- - Binary dis...

Hopper Disassembler is a binary disassembler, decompiler, and debugger for 32- and 64-bit executables. It will let you disassemble any binary you want, and provide you all the information about its... Read more

iFFmpeg 6.4.3 - Convert multimedia files...

iFFmpeg is a comprehensive media tool to convert movie, audio and media files between formats. The FFmpeg command line instructions can be very hard to master/understand, so iFFmpeg does all the hard... Read more

Firefox 55.0.2 - Fast, safe Web browser.

Firefox offers a fast, safe Web browsing experience. Browse quickly, securely, and effortlessly. With its industry-leading features, Firefox is the choice of Web development professionals and casual... Read more

FileZilla 3.27.1 - Fast and reliable FTP...

FileZilla (ported from Windows) is a fast and reliable FTP client and server with lots of useful features and an intuitive interface.
Version 3.27.1:
Fixed Vulnerabilities:
Change client... Read more

Merlin Project 4.2.7 - $289.00

Merlin Project is the leading professional project management software for OS X.
If you plan complex projects on your Mac, you won’t get far with a simple list of tasks. Good planning raises... Read more

Dashlane 4.8.4 - Password manager and se...

Dashlane is an award-winning service that revolutionizes the online experience by replacing the drudgery of everyday transactional processes with convenient, automated simplicity - in other words,... Read more

Latest Forum Discussions

War Wings is the newest project from well-established game maker Miniclip. It's a World War II aerial dogfighting game with loads of different airplane models to unlock and battle.
The game offers plenty of single player and multiplayer action. We... | Read more »

How to win every 2v2 battle in Clash Roy...

2v2 is coming back to Clash Royale in a big way. Although it's only been available for temporary periods of time, 2v2 has seen a hugely positive fan response, with players clamoring for more team-based gameplay.
Soon we'll get yet another taste of... | Read more »

Roll to Win with Game of Dice’s new upda...

Joycity’s hit Game of Dice gets a big new update this week, introducing new maps, mechanics, and even costumes.
The update sets players loose on an exciting new map, The Cursed Tower, that allows folks to use special Runes mid-match. If you feel... | Read more »

Bottom of the 9th (Games)

Bottom of the 9th 1.0.1
Device: iOS iPhone
Category: Games
Price: $4.99, Version: 1.0.1 (iTunes)
Description:
Play the most exciting moment of baseball in this fast-paced dice and card game!
| Read more »

The best apps for viewing the solar ecli...

If you somehow missed the news, many parts of the United States will be witness to a total solar eclipse on August 21 for the first time in over 90 years. It'll be possible to see the eclipse in at least some capacity throughout the continental U... | Read more »

The 5 best mobile survival games

Games like ARK: Survival Evolved and Conan Exiles have taken the world of gaming by storm. The market is now flooded with hardcore survival games that send players off into the game's world with nothing but maybe the clothes on their back.
Never... | Read more »

Supercell has been teasing fans with 2v2 windows that allow players to team up for limited periods of time. The Summer of 2v2 was just this past July, but players are already clamoring for more of that sweet, sweet team-based action.
The fans have... | Read more »

The best deals on the App Store this wee...

It seems like the week's only just started, and yet here we are with a huge pile of discounted games to sort through. There are some real doozies on sale this week. We're talking some truly stellar titles. Let's take a look at four of the best... | Read more »

The iOS community is in late summer holding mode awaiting the September arrival of the iPhone 8 and iOS 11. iOS 11 public betas have been available for months — number six was released this week —... Read more

Samsung Electronics Launches New Portable SSD...

Samsung Electronics America, Inc. has announced the launch of Samsung Portable SSD T5 – its newest portable solid state drive (PSSD) that raises the bar for the performance of external memory... Read more

TrendForce Reports YoY Gain of 3.6% for 2Q17...

Market research firm TrendForce reports that the global notebook shipments for this second quarter registered a sequential quarterly increase of 5.7% and a year-on-year increase of 3.6%, totaling 39.... Read more

Amazon has new 2017 13″ 2.3GHz/128GB Silver MacBook Pro on sale today for $100 off MSRP including free shipping. Their price is the lowest available for this model from any reseller:
– 13″ 2.3GHz/... Read more

WaterField Unveils Collaboratively-Designed,...

In collaboration with customers and seasoned travelers, San Francisco maker WaterField Designs set out to create the preeminent carry-on system to improve the experience of frequent fliers. The... Read more

Miya Notes Mac-Client for Google Keep (Launch...

MacPlus Software has announced te launch of Miya Notes for Google Keep 1.0, a powerful Mac-client for Google Keep. Millions of people use Google Keep on their phones and online, but a convenient Mac... Read more

Apple refurbished iMacs available starting at...

Apple has previous-generation Certified Refurbished 2015 21″ & 27″ iMacs available starting at $849. Apple’s one-year warranty is standard, and shipping is free. The following models are... Read more

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